Who is President Bailey?

UTRGV President Guy Bailey has had a multitude of opportunities to thrive throughout his career and has taken them in stride. 

Born in Montgomery, Alabama, Bailey attended college at the University of Alabama and earned a bachelor’s and master’s in English. He went on to earn his doctorate in English linguistics from the University of Tennessee. He later completed postdoctoral studies at Emory University and Stanford University.

“I learned to read before I went to school,” Bailey said. “Every afternoon, we’d listen to baseball broadcasts and the next day, in the papers, my mother would show me the box scores and people’s names. That’s kind of how I learned to read.”

He began his career as provost of the University of Texas at San Antonio, and made his move in 2006 to the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he then became chancellor of the school. 

Following that, he made his mark at Texas Tech University when he landed the job as president in 2008. 

Soon after, he became the president of his alma mater at the University of Alabama in 2012. He eventually stepped down from this position in order to focus on personal matters a few months later. 

After a couple of years, Bailey received an offer to become the president of the newly created University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He became one of the finalists, and soon after, the news was released that Bailey would serve as the inaugural president of UTRGV. 

Asked what he wanted to do when he was growing up, he said he had no idea he would be where he is now. 

“I never expected to be in a position like this,” Bailey said. “There were no formal expectations of me and what I would be. … [Before becoming president], my only focus was being the best department chair I could be. I never thought about doing anything beyond that.

“As well, there was no formal preparation to be a university president. It was mostly just take one step at a time. If a door ever opened, I just walked through it and learned what I needed to do.”  

Since joining UTRGV as president, Bailey said that he sees a bright future for the university.

“Some of the best things that are going to be happening in the American higher education system will be happening right here,” he said. “We have a new podiatry school opening up, we’re going to have physical therapy opening up in a few years, and we also have new Ph.D. programs opening up.”

When Bailey is not focusing his attention on the university, he enjoys the Netflix original biopic “Selena.” 

“It was someone whose music I really loved, and it was an area of the country I really love and appreciate, so I really enjoyed it,” he said. 

Asked about his favorite music and concerts he has been to, Bailey said, “I actually saw [Selena] live. Maybe it was in ’89, but she was not a big star yet. If you lived in Texas and you loved Tejano music, you knew who she was. It was terrific.”